"Now is not a good time to be cryptic, Baird!" Keira shouted, "What do you mean, 'multiply our numbers'?"
"If we rescue the prisoners, surely at least some of them will be able-bodied persons, capable of assisting our escape with their strength. And even if all in those cells are frail and feeble people, our sheer numbers will make us a mighty force to be reckoned with."
Khemera frowned. "Surely you didn't think we were here to rescue all the prisoners! Some of them are undoubtably the types of people who deserve to be in a place like this!"
"Nobody deserves anything, Khemera!" I said, "It's only God's mercy keeping any of us afloat. He gave me a second chance, and who knows? Perhaps we're God's instruments for giving some of these unfortunate souls a second chance in this life."
Hannah nodded. "I agree with Baird. He's gotta good idea here."
Keira hung her head. "I guess we'll have to do that. Sila and I can't get him out of here on our own."
I placed a hand on her shoulder. "We're in this together, Keira. Don't forget that."
The very corners of her lips lifted. "I'll try not to."
Khemera motioned for Keira to step aside. He shouldered half of Aaron's weight himself, with Sila on the other side. I stepped over to the black-cloaked man's limp form and snatched up his digital data-pad. With that, I led the way out of the room, with Keira and Hannah on either side of me.
We marched back down the iron-plated hallway with minimal resistance from the barely replenished guard force. I studied the data-pad in my hand and smirked when my eye landed on Chariya's name. I tapped a green button beside her picture, and a few yards down, a wall panel slid aside.
I peered into the cell and laid eyes on Chariya for the first time. Her facial features themselves were beautiful, but her disheveled hair and tattered clothes proved quite a distraction from that fact. She studied me with puzzled eyes and bit her chapped lip.
I cleared my throat and held out my hand to help the woman to her feet. "Hello there, your highness. I'm Baird Amergin, and we're here to get you out."
She raised an eyebrow. "Okay...."
Ultimately, her trust was irrelevant at this point, as long as she followed us. We instructed her to walk in the middle of our formation for safety's sake, and then we continued on our way, going from cell to cell and emptying it of its prisoners. Most were skinny and haggard, but a few emerged with vitality in their step and meat on their bones.
Finally, we marched back into the central hub, a massive congregation of former inmates trailing behind us. The guards paled upon sighting us. One shot from Keira or a few seconds under Hannah's beam eliminated them easily.
Thankfully, I found a map on the data-pad I'd lifted, and so finding a shuttle bay was no difficult task. The walk there was long, and the path, winding, but our resistance could hardly combat our large numbers. Here and there, they picked off an escapee or two, but they soon suffered for such violence. And as we travelled, the inmates who followed us constantly retrieved weapons from the fallen guards, increasing our firepower exponentially with every encounter.
Finally, I tapped the screen, and the door slid open for us. The massive shuttle bay now lay before us, with hundreds of the high-occupancy submarines filling the chamber in orderly rows. The guard force had apparently been aware of our intended destination, for every shuttle had its own squad of soldiers on standby around it, guns drawn and faces determined.
I drew back into the mass of inmates while those with guns stepped to the front of our formation and fired on the nearest squad. Gunfire rung through the bay. Several Alcontean soldiers fell, but our side lost far more men. I could only stand and watch anxiously as the first line of our defense fell to the superior marksmen guarding the nearest shuttle.
Hannah rushed forward to burn a hole in the soldiers' defenses, but she had the difficult extra task of being careful not to damage any shuttles in the process. She took out about half of the squad before her beam fizzled out. Hannah frowned down at her gun, only to realize the indicator bar had gone black. She dashed back into the congregation for cover.
Without ceremony, another group of former inmates stepped forward and grabbed the guns their dead comrades had carried. Along with Keira, they finished off the force surrounding the nearest shuttle and dashed over to it.
I began ushering the men into the open ramp. "Let's fill this one up first! Then we can worry about fighting our way to the second!"
Soldiers surrounding the nearby shuttles opened fire on us too, and though they missed many of their shots, an almost equal number hit their targets, and many of our men fell dead, seconds before they would've reached safety. I took cover behind one of the legs of the landing gear.
After helping Sila hoist Aaron inside, Khemera dashed over to my position. "The bay doors are closed, Baird. We need to figure out how to get them open, or all our work will be in vain."
I nodded and glanced around. Peeking out from behind my cover, I saw a control panel in the corner of the room, right by the bay doors, and up on a raised platform, accessible only by a flight of stairs lined by waiting soldiers. It seems they concentrated all their forces in this one place, knowing our survival depends on it. These people are smarter than I've previously given them credit for.
"See that?" I finally spoke, pointing at the panel. "I'm not completely certain, but that looks like it could be what we're looking for. But we need to address something."
"What's that?" Khemera asked.
"Once those doors are opened, water's gonna come rushing in here, and anybody standing in this chamber...outside the shuttles...will be swept away and drowned. So...who has to do...that?"
Khemera chuckled. "Look again, Baird. That's a glass enclosure, and it appears those stairs can fold upward to form a door. I've seen such structures before."
I nodded with realization. "Oh, that would make sense!"
"Yes, it does. Now, I'll go over and make sure our assumptions are correct."
"I'll come with you."
"No, Baird." Khemera said sternly. "Keira's hands are full. Help her."
I slowly nodded. "Will do."
As Khemera stalked off to check the control panel, I ducked through gunfire to reach Keira, who was hidden behind a crate. I joined her in the hiding spot and offered a reassuring grin.
"Hey, Baird," she said quickly as she reloaded her gun, "What's up?"
"Khemera's checking that control panel over there, and I came to see if you needed anything."
"Not really, but thanks for asking. Main thing I need? For these bastards to leave us alone."
I nodded. "Exactly."
We fell into silence, aside the bang of Keira's gun, of course. I took a breath and peeked around the crate, just to check on Khemera. Then I gasped at the sight of Dirk Josante emerging from some door attached to the control chamber, and descending the stairs a moment later. He nodded at the soldiers as he passed them on the stairway, and after saluting him, they ascended and disappeared through the door.
When Dirk finished his descent, he looked up and noticed Khemera. The old man held his ground and stared straight at him fearlessly.
I wanted to hear what was happening, so I dashed across the bay, stopping often to take cover. Finally, I reached a massive stockpile of crates and boxes, and so I ensconced myself in their concealment and listened.
"You should've known better than to challenge me again, old man." Dirk remarked calmly, still advancing.
"You say that as if you were the victor, which we both know to be entirely untrue." Khemera retorted, also unscathed.
Dirk chuckled. "I find it amusing how you fail to see your current disadvantage."
"The Lord is on our side. I fail to see how any supposed advantage on your part trumps that."
"If I wanted to hear your god preached, I would go to a chapel. Now, back to the matter at hand. You have committed and are committing even now, treasonous acts against the Alcontean Empire, and it is my duty to protect our honor and execute justice. Don't take this personally, old man."
With that, Dirk threw a sudden punch at Khemera. The experienced fighter had anticipated the blow, however, so he blocked and threw an elbow into his opponent's chest. Dirk stumbled back, but his armor had protected him against any real harm. He stepped forward again and kicked Khemera in the leg.
The old man grimaced, but held his tongue and his ground. With a sweeping motion of his leg, he kicked back, his foot connecting with the caped fighter's helmet. Again, he stumbled, but was otherwise unharmed by the attack.
Dirk stepped up to Khemera again, and for a few minutes, the two exchanged several powerful, though inconsequential, blows. Each man appeared as adept at defense as they were in attacking, so they consistently nullified their opponent's strength.
Then Khemera surprised Dirk by shoving him backward into the very pile of crates I hid behind. I jumped as the black-caped man's helmet smashed the box right by my head. I scrambled to find a new hiding spot in the pile and continued to witness their fight.
Dirk Josante growled and slipped a dagger out of his boot. He lunged at Khemera, who dodged the weapon's blade and moved to disarm his opponent. Dirk kicked him in the leg again, disrupting his maneuver. Then he sped around, grasped him by the neck, and pinned him against the side of the stairwell.
"For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him." Dirk said, mockery engulfed in his voice. Then he slashed at Khemera's remaining eye with the knife, tossing him aside like an unwanted toy immediately afterward.
I gasped in shock as Khemera dropped with a thud, with a second gaping hole in his head. Horror gripped my heart and froze me in my tracks. But soon afterward, pure rage took over, and that emotion mobilized me. I leapt over the crates and glared hatefully at Dirk Josante, my fists balled and my intentions quite murderous.
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A/N: Seems Khemera can't catch a break, eh? 😬
I'm gonna make this note as short as possible, because I woke up a bit late today and have other things to get to. But if you enjoyed this chapter, please vote and comment.
So a random question and I'm out: What's your go-to drink?
(Ooh, for me, this is hard. I love so many kinds of drinks. [Not that kind.] If it's cold, I'm more likely to go with tea or hot chocolate, and if it's not, you'll likely see me drinking a smoothie or often an iced coffee.)
Well, I hope you enjoyed the update and are now enjoying the suspense. I'll be back in six days to relieve it. Bye! 😂😂😂
(I was fighting autocorrect for a while, because it wanted that to be "six weeks". I'm deceased.)